Harris Teeter Super Doubles 5/29

In case you haven't heard yet, Harris Teeter is running their super doubles right now! Meaning any coupon with a face value of $2 or less is doubled. Yes, you read correctly. A $2 coupon is doubled to $4.

I did pretty well today. I got $119.49 worth of groceries for only $45.79. Not too bad I guess. I didn't have a coupon for everything I bought like boneless skinless chicken breasts and Mahi Mahi for dinner tonight. And obviously not everything I purchased is pictured above. I had to rush to put things away so that I could put David down for a nap and then blog about this.

As you probably know by now, I use Southernsavers.com for all of my couponing needs. Jenny does a great job with explaining how to coupon, where to find coupons, and the best deals of the week.

Here's a run down on my items purchased:

FREE items

• Febreeze Air Effects- $3 - $3
• L'oreal Kids Shampoo- $3.79 - $3.79
• Covergirl Eye Shadow- $3.79 - $3.79
• Jose Ole Chimmichanga- $1.34 - $1.34

Coupon Items

• Pampers Jumbo Pack - $9.99 - $3
• Snack Pack Teddy Grahams - $2 - $.67
• Soft Scrub Gel - $2.69 - $2
• Nestle Dough Tub- $3.97 - $2.50
• Boca Veggie Burger - $1.89 - $1
• Naturally Fresh Ranch Dressing - $3.89 - $3 
• Sargento Shredded Cheese - $1.89 - $.80
• DiGiorno Small Pizza- $3.79 - $2
• DiGiorno Regular Pizza- $5.50 - $4

Non Coupon Items

• Goldfish Crackers - $1.25
• Boneless Skinless Chicken- $1.99/lb
• Mahi Mahi- $6.97/lb. 

Frozen S'mores "Cupcakes"

I actually made these last year but never wrote a blog entry about them. They are easy to make, turn out beautiful and are super good too! I made them for a co-workers birthday and they were eaten up.]

MAKES 12 CUPCAKES | PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES | TOTAL TIME: 2.5 HOURS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 box instant chocolate pudding (3.9 oz)
• 1 container of Cool Whip (8 oz) - thawed in fridge
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips for topping

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Once melted, add the graham cracker crumbs and mix well until combined to make the crust.
2. Spoon the graham cracker crust into the bottom of each cupcake tin. Firmly pack it.
3. Place the milk chocolate chips and whipping cream into a small bowl and microwave for 30 second increments (make sure you stir in between!), until melted and smooth.
4. Spoon the melted chocolate mixture into a zip lock bag and cut off the tip at the corner so that you can pipe the mixture on top of the graham cracker crust.
5. Place about 5 or 6 marshmallows on top of the chocolate.
6. Mix your cold milk and instant pudding for about 2 minutes. Fold in 1/2 of the Cool Whip container. Place into another zip lock bag and pipe it on top and in between the marshmallows.
7. Freeze for about 2 hours.
8. Take them out of the freezer and let them sit for a bit before you attempt to pry them out.
9. Top each "cupcake" with the left over Cool Whip, graham cracker crumbs and mini chocolate chips.
10. Serve right away or put them into a container and place back into the freezer.

Taco Casserole

I decided to try a few new recipes this week for dinner. I'm known for finding a good recipe and repeating it every other week. What can I say? I know what I like and I eat what I like! I came across a recipe via Pinterest for a taco casserole. I edited it a bit to make it my own.

Since the serving size is so large for my small family of 3 (well really family of 2 since baby David won't be eating this), I decided to freeze half and bake half. You can always just half the recipe of you would like.

Start with browning your meat with the onions. Then add your cans of corn, Rotel, tomato sauce and beans.

Alternate layers of meat with the crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Top with shredded cheese, sour cream and/or tomatoes.

Servings: 8-10 | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can of kidney beans (or chili beans, black beans, etc); drained
• 1 can of corn; drained
• 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 pkg Taco Seasoning (1.25 ounce)
• 10 oz can of Rotel
• 3 cups of shredded cheese (Mexican blend, Colby, etc.), divided
• 3 cups tortilla chips, crushed and divided

Garnish: (optional)

• Chopped Tomato
• Shredded Lettuce
• A side of sour cream!

DIRECTIONS

1. Brown your ground beef with the onions, drain.
2. Add can of beans, corn, tomato sauce, Rotel and taco seasoning.
3. Stir until well blended and simmer for 10 minutes. (If the mixture seems a little dry then you can add just a couple teaspoons of water). 
4. Pour 1/2 of meat mixture into baking pan and top with 1/2 of your crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese. Repeat with a second layer.
5. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes. 
6. Top with lettuce and tomatoes. 

Thanks to my mom for my awesome Easter gift! I was able to use my Le Creuset square casserole dish for this meal. You can get one at Chefs Catalog for around $85.

Deal of the week! Nail polish for only 50¢!

If you head to Harris Teeter before next Tuesday (May 28th) make sure you hit up the make-up aisle! You can get Wet 'n Wild Megalast nail polish for only 50¢ after coupon. (On sale for $1.50-$1 coupon).

The coupon is in the RedPlum coupon insert from 5/19. Thankfully, my mom gives me her coupons every week so I was able to get two adorable summer colors. I have on the mint color right now and I am loving it :)

Oh, and there is a sneak peak of my DIY blackout curtains in the background. A post is to come about those!

Crafting deal of the day!

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If you check Southern Savers regularly like I do, then you already know this and can disregard this post.

But, Craftsy.com is offering a slew of free classes today (5/18). If you don't have much time to enjoy the class today... don't fret! You have unlimited access to the class!

I went with the class titled "Design and Sew an A Line Skirt" by Deborah Moebes.

I can't wait to watch the class and make my first skirt ever. Let me know what class you sign up for and how you liked it.

Chocolate Chocolate Cake - Hershey's

My husband just celebrated his 29th birthday a few days ago. His mom has always made his birthday cake and birthday dinner. This year I told him that I wanted to do both. That was until he said that he wanted gizzards for dinner (ew). So, I changed my request to making just the cake. His mom always makes him a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

This gave me the opportunity to make a cake from scratch for the first time ever! It was a huge success. This cake comes out very moist and not too sweet. I opted to sub the vegetable oil with coconut oil for the first time as well. I was a little nervous to do this but no issue, couldn't even taste the coconut.  The ingredients also call for dark chocolate cocoa. I didn't have this on hand so I just used regular cocoa.

The recipe comes from the Hershey's website.  I know, I know... not so creative of me. Hey, maybe one day I will make up my own recipe :)

Cake Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa (dark or not)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round cake pans or one 13x9 pan.

2. Stir together all the dry ingredients. 

3. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat for two minutes on medium speed.

4. Stir in the boiling water. Don't freak out at this point, the batter will be thin!

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes for the round cake pans and 35-40 minutes for the rectangle pan. 

6. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and setting on wire rack. 

7. Make sure you let the cake cool completely, and then ice.

Icing Ingredients

• 6 tbsp. butter; softened
• 2 2/3 cups of powered sugar
• 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Beat the butter in a medium bowl.

2. Add the powered sugar and coca alternately with the milk. Beat until a smooth consistency (you may have to add a little extra milk).

3. Stir in the vanilla. 

And I want to apologize for the awful picture of the cake. It is more than 1/2 eaten in this shot. Oh well, it was just too good to wait for a picture :)

Fabric for Master Bedroom

My husband and I bought our first home in 2005 and we have yet to decorate our master bedroom. Sad, I know. But, we recently just down sized our bed from a king to a queen. Bad side: I don't have as much room to sleep. Good side: I have an excuse now to buy new bed sheets/comforter and curtains to coordinate!
After shopping online and in every store known to man kind, I just haven't found what I really wanted for our room. I have resorted to making my own curtains and pillows. I looked up tutorial videos on YouTube and it seems pretty easy. I am even going to try sewing black-out fabric onto the curtain panels. We will see how that turns out.
My husband and I FINALLY agreed on a fabric to use. At first I was wanting to go with a shade of green, but there just wasn't anything out there that we both liked that was under $10 a yard (I know, I'm cheap). Luckily Fabric.com is having a sale of 20% off their Premier Prints brand. I like a lot of the different fabric choices from that company. So, this is what we agreed on... drum roll please...

Yaaaaaaay! It's called Suzani Chocolate/Natural by Premier Prints. I can't wait to make my pillows and curtains. And it was on sale for only $5.98/yd!! You know that I will post them as soon as they are done.

**And a quick money saving tip: You can actually buy fabric from fabric.com through Amazon.com. The prices are the same but shipping is only $1 compared to $7 if you order directly off of fabric.com 's website. You're welcome :)**

David's 1st Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated my little boys 1st birthday! I know everyone says it, but the first year really did fly by so fast. I have cherished every moment with him so far.

I decided to go with a whale theme for his party. Unfortunately, there is nothing out there to purchase with whales on it. Apparently it isn't a real popular theme. So, thanks to my friend Bethany's (over at dwellingsbydevore.com) silhouette, I was able to make a banner, cupcake toppers and stickers for the plates and cups.

And I'm sure you have seen this cake all over Pinterest. I thought it was a great idea to do in place of a regular cake and icing for baby. It is just a seedless watermelon cut into the shape of a cake and then topped with other kinds of fruits. I used strawberries, kiwi and mandarins. David's favorite fruit is watermelon so it was a hit!

He obviously loved it...

Lowes Foods Super Doubles 4/24

Oh how I love super double coupon time! This week you can go to Lowes Foods and they will double any coupon that has a face value of $2 or less. Meaning, if you have a $2 coupon they will double it to $4!

I made my grocery list by using Southern Savers website. I encourage you to go to that website to learn how to coupon so that you can do just as well with your shopping trip. :)

Today I was able to get $88.13 worth of groceries for only $35.01. That is over 50% savings! My goal is to save at least 50% with each coupon visit.

Break down of my purchases:

- Bounty 2 pack paper towels: $3.50 - $1 = $1.50
- Charmin 4 pack Ultra Soft: $3 - $1  = $1
- YoCrunch Yogurt: $2.99 - $1 = $.99 x2
- Trident Gum: $1 - $1 = FREE x2
- Hershey's Bars: $1.19 - $1 = $.19 x4
- DiGiorno Pizza with Breadsticks or Wyngz: $6.99 - $1.50 = $3.99 x3
- Stouffers Large Family sized Ravioli or Lasagna: $9.99 - $1.50 = $6.99 x2
- Cooked Perfect Meatballs: $2.99 - $1 = $.99 x3
- Edys Fruit Bars: $3 - $1 = $1

All of the above deals (minus Bounty, Charmin, DiGiorno and Stouffers) were via Southersavers.com . All coupons used were from the newspaper and none of them were printed. Again, I encourage you to check out the coupon site for daily deals. Please feel free to comment if you have any questions.

Coming soon...

Ok, I'm not dead... I promise! I have several blog entries to come. Here is what you will see in the next few days or so:

1. DIY Growth Chart
2. Baby David's 1st Birthday decorations
3. Baby blanket
4. 4th of July Pillowcase dresses

So keep your eyes peeled! Crafts galore to come! :)

Homemade Yogurt Bites for Baby

I have seen homemade yogurt bites all over Pinterest lately and thought I should try it out. The only snack that we give David right now is Puffs. He eats so many of them that I'm surprised he hasn't already turned into a Puff himself! :)

After doing some research, I found that it is recommended that you give babies organic yogurt made with whole milk. I found tubs of Stonyfield yogurt on sale this week at Lowes Foods. They are organic and made with whole milk, french vanilla flavored.

These are so easy to do! Just spoon your yogurt into a sandwich bag, cut a small piece off of the corner and pipe little circles onto a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet! I popped them into the freezer for just 25-30 minutes. After that, just take them off of the parchment paper with your hands and store them however you'd like. I just put them into a freezer bag and placed them back into the freezer.
I hope that David likes them! If not, I can always just eat them myself :)

Deal of the Day!

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Gilt.com has a great sale on kitchen items today. And they are also offering free shipping! I just got a meat thermometer and a Cuisinart Handheld mixer for only $11! The hand mixer is $55 full price and $30 on Amazon. Only $10 on Gilt!

Click here to visit the sale. You also get a $25 credit for each successful referral.

Start shopping :)

$5 Swimsuit separates!

If you are one of the millions of ladies that watched The Bachelor Finale this past Monday then I'm sure that you caught the JCP commercial. They have $5 swim separates! Can't beat that! I went to my local JCP today and checked them out. They are made by the Arizona Company. I must say that you can tell that they are made of cheaper fabric. There isn't a lot of padding in the tops either. There weren't a lot of sizes available in the store so I just ordered mine online via jcp.com.

I ended up purchasing the teal top and black bottoms. Wanted to switch it up a little bit this year :) They have a coupon code right now for $10 off of a purchase of $50 or more if you place your order by 3/17. Plus free shipping if you do site to store. The code is SPENDIT . I added another bathing suit top to go with my black bottoms and a few onesies for my baby David to get over the $50 limit. So, the $10 discount covered the cost of my teal top and black bottoms = Free bathing suit :)

Check out the suits before they are all sold out!

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Cinnamon Streusel Baked French Toast- The Pioneer Woman

This past weekend was our weekend to bring breakfast for our Sunday School class. I have made my canned cinnamon roll french toast bake before, but I wanted to try a different french toast bake. Leave it to me to try something new for a group of people. I don't know why I do that. It makes everything so much more stressful. I always worry about how it turns out and I don't even try it before feeding it to the masses. I haven't had a bad recipe yet, but I won't hold my breath!

Since half of the ladies in my SS Class pinned this recipe, I figured that I should make it for them. (I know, how kind of me!) Some of the ladies (and even the guys) in the class complimented it! So, I guess it wasn't half bad :) It is a recipe by The Pioneer Woman... so of course it was good!

The easiest part of this recipe is that you can use a premade loaf of bread. I'm sure you could make your own, but I just bought a loaf of day old bread at the grocery store for $1.99.

The egg mixture is best made in the Pampered Chef batter bowl. The pour spout at the top makes it easy to distribute the mixture over the bread.

After leaving the soaked bread in the fridge for a few hours (or over night) top it with the cinnamon topping. I also made the cinnamon topping the night before and stored it in a ziploc bag. This made it super easy in the morning, I just had to pop it in the oven!

Here is the finished product in all its glory. Yummmm. I thought it turned out great! You can bake it anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on how soggy you want it to be. I baked mine for 55 minutes and it was just a little bit soggy but mostly firm.

Cinnamon Streusel Baked French Toast

Ingredients

French toast

• 1 loaf of day old bread. (I used challah.)
• 8 whole eggs
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla

Topping

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• A pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• 1 stick of cold butter, cut it into pieces

Instructions

• Coat the bottom of your 9x13 pan with butter. Tear up your loaf of bread into chunks and add to the baking pan.
• Mix together the eggs, milk, heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
• Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Make sure that you distribute the egg mixture evenly. Cover the dish and store in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. (I did overnight).
• For the topping, mash all the ingredients together until the butter is broken up into small pebbles.
• Top the bread with the cinnamon topping and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you like mushy french toast, do 45 minutes. 
• Enjoy with our without maple syrup!

Free 2 liter Coke Product and Martha White muffin mix

There is a new website, Aisle50, that loads discounts directly to your Lowes Foods rewards card. Right now they are offering a FREE 2 liter Coke product and FREE Martha White muffin mix.

Click here to sign up.

All you need to do is enter your email address and rewards card number. When you check out at Lowes Foods, just scan your rewards card and the discount will automatically apply! How easy is that?

Leave me a comment if you get the deal!


UPDATE (2/27)- I just got back from Lowes Foods and the coupons worked. I was able to get a 2 liter of Diet Coke and Martha White Blueberry muffin mix for absolutely free!

Super Doubles at Harris Teeter!

Harris Teeter is running super doubles right now. Meaning that they double any coupon that has a face value up to $2. AAAHHH! How exciting :) I planned all my coupons yesterday and hit the store today. David was a little cranky towards the end of the trip because he was past his nap time. But overall, he was a real trooper!

I get my grocery lists off of the Southern Savers blog. I go to the grocery store basically every Wednesday and my deals range from week to week. I encourage you to check out her blog and start storing up on your weekly coupons!
Most people you talk to will say "Oh, I don't coupon because there are never coupons for what I buy...". If you see above, I was able to use my coupons to get things like candles, deodorant, face wash, razors and Hefty storage bags. Last I checked, everyone uses those things. :)
My entire trip before coupons was $106 and I paid only $35! Yes you read right, thirty-five dollars! Out of everything pictured above I got the salsas, dressing, baby spoons, and Hormel Compleats meal for absolutely free! Oh yeah, and I also got a large tube of Nestle Cookie Dough for free, but I forgot to put it in the picture.
The most expensive items were the razors. They cost between $6.99 and $7.99 a piece but I had a coupon for $2 off of each which then doubled to $4 off of each. So I got 17 razors for about $14. Not the best deal on razors but also not too bad.
I ended up using the max 20 coupons so I have to go back tomorrow to finish up my list and use the rest of my coupons.
If you have any questions on couponing, please feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to answer it. :)

Update:
I went back today to get some more of the Hefty bags. I was able to get 4 boxes of bags for just $1.80, saving $12! So I got $13.80 worth of freezer bags for just $1.80... not bad!

Recommended Baby Products: Miscellaneous

This will be my last "Recommended Baby Products" post until I try new stuff out. I hope that you have found my posts about high chairs, small toys, large toys, sleepy time and let's eat to be helpful. On a side note, we just got David's new car seat delivered today! We have been using the Chicco KeyFit 30 but his little feet are dangling off the end and he looks like a burrito inside that thing! My husband did a lot of research and chose the Diono Radian Carseat. We will try it out and I will let you know how it goes!

Boppy with Organic Slipcover

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A Boppy is one of those things that you hear everyone tell you to register for. It is the truth! Although, I never really used it for nursing David. It was mainly used for tummy time when he was a new born and for him to have something to sit up in as he was growing. The organic slipcover has 3 peas in a pod and is very soft. I highly recommend this pillow and cover. The pair will cost you around $60 ($30 for the pillow and $30 for this cover).

BogginHead Pacifier Clip

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David used a pacifier for only the first few weeks of his life and then decided to upgrade to his pointer and middle finger on his right hand. So, here we were with two BooginHead's and thinking that we had no use for them. We were wrong! These are great to attach to toys as well (like a ball or rattle or teether). It has been a life saver while at restaurants or anywhere that we want to give David a toy and not worry about it falling on the ground. My husband ordered the camo one listed above (without my permission :) ). I'm not sure what they run but it doesn't matter, it is worth it. 

Graco Secure Coverage Digital Monitor

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We ended up getting this exact monitor at a yard sale last spring for just $5! Yes you read right, $5!! Of course it was used and didn't come with a box or manuals, but who needs that stuff anyways? It was worked great! No interference, it holds a charge and it even clips onto you. I have no complaints at all about this monitor. You can get it for around $40 on Amazon. 

Chewbeads Perry Necklace

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I got a $25 credit towards Vau.lt that I needed to spend. I couldn't figure out what to get on that site. I was torn between more Trumpette socks for David or this necklace. The socks were too small so I went with the necklace. David has become distracted while feeding when around noisy places (like the nursing room at church). So, I needed to get something that grabbed his attention. Also, he can chew on this necklace to his hearts desire and it doesn't hurt him. You can also handwash or throw it into the dishwasher to get it clean again. There are a bunch of different products that the brand carries. I encourage you to check it out! Vau.lt has the Chewbeads products for cheaper than on the actual companies website. Click here for the Vau.lt website. I'm thinking about ordering a different necklace in another color!

Recommended Baby Products: Let's Eat!

My son, David, is only 9 months old so keep that in mind when you see me recommend products to use to eat. He doesn't feed himself yet so I can't recommended products that the baby uses, just things that I have used to feed him.

Dr. Brown Bottles
Let's start at the beginning with bottles. There are so many bottles on the market! That was probably the hardest thing for me to register for. What is the best? What if my baby has colic and I don't even know yet? What's the easiest to clean? We decided to register for Dr. Brown bottles. Of course we didn't know if David was going to be colic or not (since he was in my belly), but we didn't want to risk buying or registering for another brand and then having to go back and buy Dr. Brown's. You will read plenty of reviews about these bottles being a pain to clean. I honestly didn't have a problem with cleaning them. You can even buy a basket to put all the parts in and then just throw it into the dishwasher.
The set pictured below runs for around $20 on Amazon. I have both the standard bottles (pictured below) and the wide neck bottles. Either size will do but the standard sized bottles attach to a Medela Breast Pump which is nice.

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OXO  Tot Feeding Spoon
DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANY OTHER SPOONS! GET THESE! Ok, hopefully you get my point :) I've tried other spoons and I find that after a few spoonfuls my hand starts to cramp. I know that sounds ridiculous but it's true! The way that this spoon is curved makes it easier for your to shovel food into your little ones mouth. They are a little bit more expensive than other spoon packs, but trust me, it is worth the price.

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Euro-Pro Ninja Master Prep Food Processor

I decided even before I was pregnant that I would make my own baby food. It is much more cost efficient and healthier. I have only made fruits and veggies so far and it has been great! I usually make all the food in one day and stock up the freezer. So far I have been making food about every 3 or 4 weeks. We already owned the Ninja before we even thought about having kids. It has worked wonders with making baby food. I have only used the smaller Ninja and not the blender one. It has been used for lima beans, apples, pears, sweet potatoes and butternut squash (just to name a few). They go for about $100 on Amazon, not sure if you could get a better deal at Kohls or on an infomercial. 

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That is all I have to recommend so far for eating. I make my own baby food and when I make it I store it in the Pampered Chef 1 cup prep bowls. I have about 6 of them and they are great for freezing food because they are glass. I just ordered David his first sippy cups off of Amazon. I will try them out and let you know how they do. Don't forget to check out my other posts on small toys, high chairs, large toys and sleepy time!

Cinnamon Roll Cake

My church is doing a weekly bible study for mom's called Abide. It is an awesome study so far and I encourage all the moms out there to either read this study or get plugged into one at your local church. Any ways... we are meeting every Monday morning until the end of April. I think there are about 70 ladies that are attending. Since we meet at 9:30 AM we are hungry! Each small group of about 8 or so women are responsible for bringing breakfast twice over the 4 month study. Our group did breakfast this morning. I was going to be super lazy about it and signed up for canned cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins. I then decided that I should try to be a little bit more stay-at-home-mom-ISH and make at least one of them from scratch. If you noticed, I just made homemade cinnamon rolls last week. They took a lot of time and were really big so I decided that not go that route. Luckily, I came across a Cinnamon Roll Cake recipe via Pinterest a few weeks ago. It makes a 9x13 cake that I could cut into smaller pieces to feed the masses :) I was a little worried about bringing something I had never made or tried before, but it ended up tasting great so I figured I should share the recipe. The recipe is adapted from here. If you noticed I did change the amount of butter used, I just felt that the original recipe called for way too much.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Ingredients:

• Cake Mix
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 6 tbsp. melted butter
• Cinnamon Mix
• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• Glaze
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

1. Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs and vanilla together to make your cake mix. 
2. Then stir in the melted butter and pour the  batter into a greased 9x13 cake pan.
3. Mix softened butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together to created your cinnamon mix. 
4. Lump the cinnamon mix onto the cake batter. 
5. Take a knife and zigzag through the batter to incorporate the cinnamon mix.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
7. Top with the glaze while the cake is still warm.
8. Enjoy with a glass of milk! :)

Recommended Baby Products: Sleepy time

If you invest in any sort of baby product I promise it will be anything that will help put your baby to sleep or keep them asleep! I will cover a few of my favorite bed time/nap time baby items. You can also visit my other posts to find recommended toys (large and small) as well as high chairs.

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Halo Sleep Sack 100% Cotton

Ok, so you get to the stage where you have baby sleeping in their own crib (yay!). But, you want to be able to cover them with a blanket but then you don't want to because you are afraid that they might suffocate. I know... it sounds scary! We ended up having a sleep sack by accident that we purchased from a consignment sale before David was even born for 25 cents (yes you read that right, 25 cents, as in a quarter). We loved it and so did David! It was a size small so it didn't last very long. We rushed out and bought more at Babies R Us when they had them for buy one get one half off. David was sleeping in these when it was summer/fall and sleeps in it for every nap. These can cost you around $25 and up.

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Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper

This is the bassinet that David slept in when he came home from the hospital. It was very convenient because you can rock it and it doesn't take up much room next to your bed. It is also easy to clean and folds up for storage. You may have heard about a recent recall on this product for mold. Don't fret! You can call Fisher Price directly and they will tell you how to clean the plastic base to get rid of the mold if you have it. The slight incline was very comfortable for David when he was a newborn. It will cost you around $50 on Amazon. It is worth it!

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Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper Mini Bassinet Convertible

After David got too big for the rock 'n play sleeper we switched him over to this bassinet. It folds up for easy storage and transportation into a bag. We took this with us on road trip to Ohio and we were able to fit it in the trunk of our Prius (along with a stroller, swing and luggage). The bassinet also converts into a play yard. You just take out the mattress. It's best to click on the source link so that you can see other pictures of it on Amazon. It will cost you around $140 brand new. We got ours off of Craigslist for $75 and the seller threw in a Moby Wrap and baby food grinder. What a deal!

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HoMedics Soundspa Lullaby

I had never heard of a sound machine prior to having David. We didn't even register for one. Luckily, one of my husband's co-workers is a dad of two and knows how important these things are. I like this particular sound machine because it has a timer and a projector. It comes with three different discs for the projector that you can choose from. There is also several different sounds to choose from but we have only used the rain and heartbeat. We used the heartbeat sound for David for the first month or so and then switched to the rain. He has listened to it every night all night. It helps to drown out the sounds of the pugs and us moving around the house. This thing is a must have for anyone! They go for around $35 on Amazon, but I've seen it as low as $20.

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Quickzip Organic Crib Sheet Set

Now, I know that this particular item won't necessarily help your baby sleep better. But, it may help you sleep better! These sheets have to be the greatest invention since sliced bread :) If you have ever changed a fitted sheet on a crib mattress, then you know how difficult it can be. These sheets are great because you just need to attach the bottom half of the sheet to the crib mattress (no need to change this one often) and then simply zip on the top half! The sheet zips around the entire length of a standard crib mattress. It literally takes seconds to take off the sheet and attach a new one. They are a little pricey compared to other crib sheets, but I'm telling you now, it is way worth it. We went with the organic sheets that will cost you around $50. You can get non-organic sheets for a little cheaper.

Are there any baby sleep products that you recommend?

Recommended Baby Products: Toys (small)

I hope that you are finding my recommending baby products posts helpful. I have also posted about large toys and high chairs. With so many baby products on the market, it can quickly become overwhelming when trying to figure out what to purchase. We don't have a lot of small toys for my son since he is only 8 months old, but I'm sure that will change after his 1st birthday. Again, I will cover just toys that we love and not mention ones that we haven't been fans of. If you have any questions, please comment!

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Fisher Price Laugh 'n Learn Click 'n Learn Remote
We bought this for David for Christmas. He has a fascination with remotes. I won't let him play with the actual TV remote because that is known to be on of the most germ friendly things in your home. This toy only cost around $10 from Target. It has an on-off switch on the side so that the baby can still play with the remote with no sound. The volume keys actually turn the volume up and down. The red light on top flashes along with the music too. This toy has been a great attention grabber for David. He can sit there and play with this remote forever. It has been a life saver!

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Vulli So' Pure Teether (aka Sophie the Giraffe)

Trust me on this, if you only buy one toy for your baby... get a teether. The best thing about Sophie is that she is made of natural rubbers and painted with food paint. How awesome is that? And of course, she is BPA free. David has been chewing on this toy since the beginning (maybe that's why he already has 4 1/2 teeth?). Not much else to say about this... just buy it. It will cost you about $15 on Amazon.

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Rhino Toys Oball Rattle and Football

We received the rattle as a baby shower gift and we purchased the football ourselves. This toy is great for little baby fingers to grab. It is also light weight so baby can pick it up and even throw it. The rattle in the original Oball is a great sensory object for baby. The football is a little larger but also a favorite to David. They cost about $10 each on Amazon. (Bonus: they are easy to attach to pacifier clips too!)

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VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker
My sister, Tana, got David this walker for Christmas. She has two girls of her own and says this was their all time favorite toy. She is right! David loves this thing. Although he isn't walking yet, he does like to sit in front of it and push all the buttons. It's pretty cute because he can't stand to have the phone on the base and for the gate on the far left to be open. As soon as we give him the toy he rips off the phone and closes the gate. Only then can he proceed to playing :) The face of the walker comes off so that you can sit the activity board flat on the floor. We haven't done that for David, but you do have the option.

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Melissa & Doug Shape Sorting Cube
I had never heard of Melissa and Doug until David was born. It's good to know that there are still wooden toys being made today! I came across this cube at a garage sale in the Fall. It had a price tag of $5 but I talked her down to $2. Not bad when they cost around $15 brand new. I think this toy is technically for ages 3 and up... but David loves to play with the shapes! Of course he can't put them into the correct holes quite yet, but he still loves it. It entertains him for at least 30 minutes.